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Message |
    
BigDog
New Member
Username: Bigdog
Post Number: 18
Registered: 07-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 25, 2005 - 11:48 am: | 
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I added a 110V 1500W high density electric heating element to my new "Max" cooler based HLT. I plan to add 170F water to the HLT and maintain it there with the electric heating element.
I performed a test run and all went great. Just for fun started with 56F water and was able to bring the temp up to 180F in about 2.5 hours using only the electric heater (very little loss in the cooler, except for removing the lid to stir).
I then left the hot water in the cooler for 8 hours and measured the temp, just to see how well the cooler held temp. Again, good results, lost about 2 deg an hour in average ambient of 55F temp.
Well, life got busy and I let the water sit in the cooler for a several days. Last night when I went to empty it, I noticed a reddish tinge to the water and when I looked closer, the heating element was rusting at the base where it connects to the cooler side. To fasten the element, I used schedule 40 PVC and made a nut that screws into the threads of the heater and secures it to the cooler wall. The only metal in the connection is from the heating element so its not a dissimiliar metal reaction.
Any thoughts? How do I prevent this? Is this what happens in electric hot water heaters (I have natural gas!) |
Tony Legge
New Member
Username: Boo_boo
Post Number: 17
Registered: 05-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, May 26, 2005 - 09:48 am: |
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Isn't there a rod that is immersed in a heater to counteract some of the rusting that occurs. That nut you installed, is it SS, plastic, brass, etc. Was the element you installed new, as the old one could have harbored some rust from previous use. MY 2c |
Sean Richens
Member
Username: Sean
Post Number: 155
Registered: 04-2001
| | Posted on Friday, May 27, 2005 - 12:04 am: |
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How much iron is in the water supply? An experiment you can try is to fill a clear or white jug with cold water, and add enough bleach that you can smell it. Let it sit a day.
If you see a similar reddish precipitate, that's what you found in your HLT. It might just have collected on your fitting because it's a grounded metal piece. |
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Brews and Views Archive 2005 
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